President Donald Trump told reporters that unless China stops fentanyl shipments, resumes buying U.S. soybeans and stops playing "the rare earth game with us," he won't lower tariffs.
President Donald Trump, on his way to Israel, softened his message on tariffs on Chinese goods. When asked if imposing those tariffs was still the plan, he said, "Right now it is. Let's see what happens. November 1st is an eternity."
Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, said he has met with customs brokers each of the last three days, and their main ask is no more executive orders changing tariffs that are released on a Friday afternoon or night and take effect on Monday.
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CBP is ready to process the low-value packages that used to qualify for de minimis, officials said Aug. 28, hours before the change comes into effect.
Vice President JD Vance said that the U.S. is imposing secondary tariffs on India for buying Russian oil, and not China, because China already has high tariffs.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Fox News host Laura Ingraham that while he expects more trade talks with China in the next two months, the administration is "very happy" with the current combination of Section 301 tariffs, 20% fentanyl tariffs and 10% reciprocal tariffs on Chinese goods, he said.
The president's trade team has been suggesting that its definition of transshipment is different than what the word has traditionally meant -- that they will assign country of origin based on how much of the finished good was made from local inputs.
A 40% tariff on transshipped goods could apply to goods that include third-country content above 30%, according to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, speaking on Fox Business Aug. 7.
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, in two television interviews Aug. 1, defended a surprise 39% rate for Swiss exports and said his focus isn't on reaching new settlements before reciprocal tariffs begin collection Aug. 7. Rather, he said, "We're really focused right now on implementing the deals that have been reached."